The curtain refresh project

How it happened

This particular customer happened to type in Curtain Maker in Woking & ‘voila’ I came up at the top of the search engine, requiring curtain refresh project in the home.

My client had lived in their home for 8 years and made the curtains herself. However, four areas of the house desperately needed renewing.

Unfortunately, one of pair of curtains had been produced from silk and started to fall apart around the edges the other curtains were inherited with the house itself.

Designer Fabric Books

I ordered some fabric books prior to my meeting so that we could both look through and decide together before I went and had a look around the house to measure up. I always believe it should be a joint decision when selecting fabrics.

When I arrived, my client had absolutely no idea what fabrics to have in the home, she asked me what would I do?

Luckily enough I had brought with me my Ashley Wilde fabric book and was able to identify for the landing, the master bedroom pelmet & curtains and for the master bed blind.

The shower room was going to take some searching because I haven’t got anything in that shade of yellow, but I knew I would find something.

The kitchen PVC tablecloth comes in a fabric by Fryett’s Fabric, so I went home and got the fabric book my client was over the moon and agreed to everything that I had suggested.

The Kitchen Area

Here you can see I introduced three lined roman blinds to sit outside the recess with a right hand chrome chain.

Also one pair of lined and interlined triple pinch pleat curtains to hang from a new 32mm black wrought iron pole with ball end finials.

Last year we were all very heavily influenced by the sophisticated grey tones of Scandi & Nordic trends as minimal living went viral through peoples’ homes. As the dazzling lights of Christmas died down and the miserable skies of January imposed on our homes, our wonderful greyish toned rooms are left helpless, flat & deflated. That’s why I wanted to make you aware of a key interior design trend for 2018 that is hitting our homes and complimenting all the all hard work that we did in 2017.

A Key Interior Design for 2018

Introducing the colour yellow to your homes, I am going to talk about some key fabric designers that have some very tasteful & gentle yellows in the collections and how to incorporate it with your Nordic / Scandinavian feeling rooms, without hitting the bank balance, but staying on-trend with interior fashion.

Providing the modern day neutral yellow, Ashley Wilde has an alluring collection of cushions that will offer that subtle colour that will illuminate any room, without costing you a fortune.

Designer fabrics brand Prestigious Textiles has engulfed yellow tones & nature as posted in their latest Prestigious Textiles blog in December, this brings some fun and interest, especially the hedgehog print. As I always state, this doesn’t have to be in the home, you can pull this into a restaurant, public house, hotel, B&B. It adds more appeal and if you are using the fabrics for cushions it can change an entire look without you having to a lot of money.

Another idea is to simply add one piece of yellow furniture or an item to a room which has no colour. This chair is currently £351 in the Sofa.com sale. It’s called the Betty Armchair and it’s made with Canary Cotton Matt Velvet fabric. A similar chair was used in our customer’s bedroom below.

Our customer wanted a modern, industrial bedroom and it has come alive with these yellow & grey blinds & curtains for bi fold doors. The interior design of this bedroom in Woking, Surrey is bold and brave, what a statement it makes!

The coordinating chair is from Sofa.com and using their yellow velvet fabric we made the blinds on the inside of the recess in the bedroom and on the outside of the recess in the dressing room. The large grey velvet curtains over the bifold doors out onto the balcony add to the industrial look. The made to measure wave header curtains are on a channel rod system for a modern, sleek look.

The yellow lampshade is hand painted by a top designer. This bedroom really has got the wow factor!

We hope you’re having a wonderful autumn so far. We love this time of year, it’s a wonderful time to spend at home. Time for lighting a fire, snuggling under blankets and lighting candles. Absolute bliss!

So now we move onto our big news! We’re delighted to announce we are now suppliers of Prestigious Textiles designer fabrics! Later in this blog we show you some rich, jewel coloured fabrics that are perfect for creating a cosy, comforting environment.

Suppliers of Prestigious Textiles Designer Fabrics

About Prestigious Textiles

Prestigious Textiles are a UK fabrics company selling across the world.

Prestigious Textiles was founded by Trevor Helliwell in 1988. Now their headquarters just outside Bradford, is a 75,000 ft2 complex. They are a world-recognised brand and a UK success story!

They design fabrics for curtains, blinds, upholstery and accessories. Also within their ranges are wallpaper collections.

Prestigious Textiles Designer Fabric Collections

There are so many Prestigious Textiles fabric collections that we absolutely adore but we will show you our ultimate favourites from their current collections.

Royalty

A collection of sumptuous satin fabrics in stunning jewel colours. Using these fabrics for cushions and upholstery gives a room a prestigious look and feel as the name suggests.

Having a fabric that feels as good as it looks connects with more than one of your senses. Allowing a truely sensuous experience.

Velour

Another collection of bold jewel colours and sensual fabric. Velour is available in 35 colour choices which can be paired with co-ordinating prints or used on their own.

Orchestra

This fabric collection is simply stunning! From the satin mixed with jacquard to the irridescent prints. The embroidery and ribbon appliqué detail on some of the fabrics create the most amazing tactile feeling. These fabrics create gorgeous curtains, blinds, cushions and upholstery.

Prestige Textiles collections offer so much more than just rich, jewel colours in sumptuous, sensual fabrics. We encourage you to now visit their website to view more of their collections as the number is huge!

Alternatively, book an initial soft-furnishings consultation with Sophie Sews where we come to your home with our collection of fabric books. You’ll be able to see the fabrics in your home and feel the quality.

Sophie Sews is proud to announce we can now supply any ranges of sofas, chairs and beds from sofa.com. This means we can provide you with an even greater level of interior design and coordinating elements for your rooms. I am now going to run through the benefits of purchasing sofa.com products and show you some of the beautiful ranges.

Sofas, Chairs and Beds from sofa.com

Customised

With sofa.com you make your own sofa by first choosing the style, then the size and then any of their fabrics. We love this as you create a bespoke product that fits with your room.

Fabric Swatches

Sophie Sews can provide you with a free 160 fabric samples pack to choose from. We can also advise you in choosing a fabric that is going to complement your curtains, blinds, cushions or other soft furnishings created by Sophie Sews.

You can see from the following examples that the fabric of a piece of furniture can really change the whole look of a room. They can be a statement piece in a bold and bright colour or they can coordinate with other elements in the room such as curtains, blinds, wallpaper or accessories.

Sofas

sofa.com’s sofas are handmade and therefore are of superior quality and attention to detail. We often spend a lot of time using our living rooms so it is worth investing in a quality sofa or sofas that are going to bring you comfort and a statement piece for your living room, bedroom or conservatory.

Armchairs

All of sofa.com’s armchairs come with a lifetime guarantee for complete peace of mind that you have made a good investment. Fabrics for their armchairs include soft velvet, fabric linen and supple leather. Once you have chosen your favourite style, all you need to do is then choose the fabric you like in the colour of your choice.

Dining Chairs & Benches

Many people do not realise that such a large range of fabrics exist for dining chairs. Instead of buying the standard ranges from high-street stores, why not customise your dining chairs with a fabric that is going to enhance the design of your kitchen or dining room.

Mixing dining chairs with dining benches has become popular in recent years and allows for greater flexibility for your dining space.

Beds

There seems to be an endless range of beds and sofabeds from sofa.com. Whether you are looking for a bed with or without storage, you are sure to find what you are looking for, and what’s more, in a fabric that is going to complement your room perfectly.

I’m excited for the year ahead and have been reading lots about the upcoming interior design trends for 2017 and wanted to tell you about my favourites! So read on to find out what will be in fashion this year in the world of interiors with my top 5.

Interior Design Trends for 2017

We all need inspiration when it comes to interior design. For me it comes from everywhere, nature, designer materials, fashion trends and of course the seasons.

1. Tropical Prints

Botanical and tropical prints were popular last Spring and they are going to continue to be popular well into 2017.

Interior design trends often get their inspiration from the fashion runways and in 2016 Marc Jacobs, Prada, and Emanuel Ungaro all played with tropical prints. These prints will mostly be seen on wallpapers and fabrics used for curtains, blinds and cushions. I certainly look forward to working with tropical and botanical prints!

I love this lined Roman blind we created with Sanderson fabric.

2. Green

The 2017 Pantone Colour of the Year is ‘Greenery’ and its a lovely bright and cheery shade of green.

Other shades of green will be on-trend this year too, you can use a shade of green on all wall or as a cushion or a rug. Adding this year’s ‘in’ colour as an accessory will mean you can easily change it later on when you want to update to the next on-trend colour.

3. Natural Materials

2017 is set to be dominated by different textures and materials such as marble, wood, cork, clay and other natural materials. Faux materials will be just as acceptable as the real deal this year so you don’t need to break the bank with real marble.

There are many benefits to faux materials, for example engineered quartz and withstand heat and foods that are high in acid, better than real marble.

Young Huh, named one of Vogue’s five young interior designers on the rise in 2015, predicts that marble and also brass will be huge in 2017. “We’re going to see this trend in both kitchens and baths,” Huh predicts. “It’s that combination of something very natural and clean, like white marble, and something industrial, hard, and a little bit glamorous with the brass.”

So also look out for metals to still be everywhere this year. As well as brass we will be sure to see copper and gold.

4. Velvet & Comforting Fabrics

Velvet looks set to be huge in 2017 with it being incorporated into all manners of interior fabrics, such as sofas, cushions and even curtains. It’s part of the bigger trend in interiors for comfort from the world and the Danish concept of ‘Hygge’.

Due to this concept that’s burst into our consciousness, soft and cosy fabrics from 2016 will continue into 2017. So snuggle up to your faux furs and enjoy your time relaxing at home.

5. Greys & Blues

Dulux’s ‘colour of the year palette’ for 2017 is made up of greys and blues. Their colour of the year is called ‘Denim Drift’. Here’s what Dulux said about their colour of the year and their colour of the year palette, “a beautiful, timeless and versatile grey-blue that takes on a different characteristic depending on how it’s used, perfectly capturing the mood of the moment and embodying our lives for 2017. The accompanying palette of tonal blue shades creates a truly accessible range that can be easily translated into architecture and interior decorating.”

Dulux also, like others, predict greens and tropical prints will be big this year.

The interior design trends for 2017 will certainly make this a fun year with lots of fun, cosy and colourful fabrics to work with to make my clients homes beautiful and relaxing places to live. I want to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a wonderful 2017!